‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Simple Pleasures
Peace House Community - A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby Lately, the negativity of the world has affected me more than usual. Over the last few months, several supporters and members at Peace House Community have died or experienced some form of trauma. World news has been bleak. The mornings are darker and colder. Sadly, I’m one of the fortunate ones, as I know many people have to deal with more problems than me. I recently asked some friends what helps them cope when they start feeling overwhelmed. As a group, we had a difficult time finding an answer. It turns out that, if there’s one thing that will increase someone’s sadness, it’s finding out that there’s no clear antidote to sadness. Eventually, I did experience something that lifted my mood. Peace House Community held an anniversary event where we went out of our way to say thank-you to our supporters. In the past, anniversary parties have been a combination of “Thank-You Party” and [...]
Peace House Community: Oct. ’23
Listening First By MARTI MALTBY Marti Maltby I recently attended a webinar hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The discussion focused on how housing advocates can speak about Housing First programs to gain support for those programs from the general public. (For this article, you don’t need to worry about what Housing First is, because that isn’t the point of this column.) As you might guess, a meeting hosted by a group called the National Alliance to End Homelessness, speaking to individuals who advocate for and provide housing to those who are homeless, became pretty self-congratulatory. Everyone assumed that housing was the correct solution, and that anyone who didn’t support it (or in this case, Housing First) was either ignorant or a villain.I sent in a question through the chat, partly because I had a serious question, and partly because I wanted to play the devil’s advocate. I asked what standards a housing program has to meet to qualify as [...]
Peace House Community: September ’23
Every Little Bit Helps By MARTI MALTEBY Marti Maltby After the doom and gloom of my last few columns, I wanted to write something a little more upbeat this month. Based on my current thoughts, I may not succeed, but by the end of this article I will try to have found a ray of hope.At the end of July, I traveled to England with my family to visit my parents, brothers, and other relatives for two weeks. While connecting and relaxing were the trip’s main goals, I also wanted to learn about how England deals with homelessness. What I found out was depressing.In London, I spoke with Maze, a homeless man who had fled his hometown when his life was threatened. He let me know that there was one drop in center in the city, but that it was only open for four hours a day. Other than that, he had to find libraries or museums to pass the hours. I was even more surprised when he said that there were no overnight shelters in London. I asked where he spent the nights, and he explained his [...]
